I wonder if this movie didn’t win Best Picture in this year’s Academy Awards, would it still be shown here in the Philippines? Considering that it’s original premiere date was November last year, I don’t think that it was ever meant to see the light of day in our country (Much like Philomena, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers’ Club and many, many others). It’s really no wonder that we support film piracy in this country; we have no other choice.

Anyway. Here’s my round-up of Steve McQueeen (the glorious genius who brought us the first few minutes of Shame)’s 12 Years A Slave.

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Solomom Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor – Salt, 2012) is a free-born colored man in the 1850’s, making a living by being a full-time carpenter and a part-time fiddle-player. He and his family – wife Anne (Kelsey Scott – Army Wices), children Margaret (Quvenzhane Wallis) and Alonzo (Cameron Zeigler) – are treated with respect in the community and he keeps a relatively low profile by not getting involved in any of the politics. Things go awry when, after taking an impromptu fiddle-playing job offer from men who introduce themselves as Hamilton (Taran Killam – Saturday Night Live) and Brown (Scoot McNairy – Non-Stop, Argo), he wakes up in chains.

Immediately he regrets not telling his wife about the job as he finds out that he is being sold as a slave worker to the plantations in New Orleans. He works under two different white men – the kind and benevolent William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and the tough alcoholic Epps (Michael Fassbender – Jane Eyre) – who opens his eyes to the true meaning of being a slave.

THE GOOD:

1. The Accents. Considering that the three main actors are all of non-American descent, those were some pretty legitimate southern accents. Seriously. Again, what the heck are they feeding the British actors out there?
2. Benedict Cumberbatch. Mostly because of the shock factor. I read that he was in the film but I had no idea that he played a pretty big part. Props also to the acting; he looked exactly like Sherlock but you know that it’s a different person on screen.
   
3. Michael Fassbender. More specifically, his eyelashes. They go on for miles. Seriously though, all throughout the movie I couldn’t help but think that man, this is the perfect role for him. Anybody who’s familiar with his dating history will know what I’m talking about. Surely he’s had enough practice for the scenes when he was looking longingly at Lupita Ngyong’o’s Patsey.
   
4. Chiwetel Ejiofor. That was indeed a very great performance. I still can’t believe that he’s Peter from Love Actually. What a range, man!
   

THE BAD:

1. Brad Pitt. Sorry, it was very jarring to see him there. Being one of the producers and all, I don’t begrudge him the right to be in the film. What I don’t like is that he’s not quite up to par with the other talents. With the others, while you do get the initial jolt of surprise at the fact that they’re there, you quickly get immersed with their characters and their stories and problems. Not with Brad Pitt though; he never quite made me forget that he was The Brad Pitt in all of his scenes, which is annoying because it breaks the spell that the others worked so hard to create.
2. The Violence. I think that it was over the top and glorified. I know that the violence that happened during that time doesn’t compare a lick to what was shown on screen but I feel that the story would still have the same impact without it.
   
3. The Overindulgence. There were more than a few sequences which I felt to be overindulgent and pointless. Often times there were shots of characters staring blankly at either the horizon or at the camera. These scenes stretched on for minutes; I often caught myself saying “well, get on with it!”
4. The pacing of the first half of the movie. It was so slow and dragging that I must’ve checked my watch at least fifteen times during the first hour. Things picked up when he finally was working as a slave, but everything before that was pretty dull.

THE UGLY:

1. The Point. It’s a nice film and all, and my heart broke when I read the tiny bits of text at the end saying that this was all based on a true story, BUT then I realize that it was made to make all The White People uncomfortable. It does sort of take away from it overall impact.

All in all it was a great film and even though I didn’t get the chance to watch all of the Academy Award nominated films DAMN YOU PHILIPPINE CINEMA, I believe that the win was well-deserved. Above all else it was a story about a man’s struggles to get back to his family and because it focused on that storyline alone, you really get a feel of his pain and desperation.

THE VERDICT: 8/10. See it before it gets ripped out of the Philippine cinema.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.